New Milton Advertiser 20th Nov 2020

Friday 20th November 2020 · 7 News

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Villagers oppose wheelie bins plan

Inquest told man’s death was by hanging HANGING was the cause of death of a 22-year-old man whose body was found in Fawley, an inquest heard. Winchester Coroner’s Court was told how Bran- don-Scott Billings was found on 20th October, as the preliminary findings of a pa - thologist were read out. A full inquest into the death of Mr Billings, who lived in Coppice Close, St Ives, near Ringwood, is set to take place on 7th July 2021. Motorist caught over four times drug-drive limit A MOTORIST caught travel- ling at more than four times the drug-drive limit has been banned from the roads for 12 months. Thomas Hughes (33), of Woodlands Road, Netley Marsh, pleaded guilty to having traces of cocaine in his system when he drove a Renault Kangoo in Har- wood Close on 15th May. Southampton magistrates also fined Hughes £120 and told him to pay £119 in court costs. £4,700 set aside to digitally map town graves RINGWOOD councillors set aside thousands to digitally map their cemeteries. Paper and computer records are currently used but the combination causes difficulty processing some requests, town clerk Chris Wilkins told the council’s latest meeting. Members voted to spend £4,705 for specialists to map burial spots digitally, input the data, and train staff. Mr Wilkins said it would save “a great deal of time” and free up a lot of space at the coun- cil’s Gateway offices.

Parish council attacks ‘misleading’ costs and votes to object

Ice to see you – penguins help raise charity cash Residents Steve Aust (left) and Mark Hall were among those who joined Smiley and Wavy on their waddle

BY LIZ HENDRIE

PROPOSALS for wheelie bins across the New Forest have been rejected by Copythorne Parish Council as members attacked “misleading” infor- mation about the costs of the scheme. New Forest District Council recently launched a consulta- tion on plans also including rub- bish and recycling collection on alternate weeks and a separate weekly food waste pickup. Currently, residents use black and clear plastic sacks for their rubbish and recycling, which is picked up weekly, and a box for a four-week glass collection. There is currently no service for food waste. Discussing the move at the latest Copythorne Parish Coun- cil meeting, members said NFDC’s report detailing the overhaul lacked clarity and have sent a long list of ques- tions to officers. They pointed out the intro- duction of a food waste collec- tion would be an additional cost, despite claims by NFDC that the new system would be “cost and carbon efficient”. “Vehicle types and the vari- ous containers would have to be decided upon and, presum- ably, increase costs,” stated Cllr Steve Herra, vice-chair of the parish council, in his report to fellow members. “Food waste would be sent for anaerobic digestion but we have no suitable sites within the county. The optimum site would be a farm where the farmer would use the fertiliser on his land – again there are no costings for this.” The parish council also ques- tioned what residents were expected to do if their waste exceeded the capacity of their wheelie bin, and alleged

RESIDENTS and staff from a New Milton housing service for people with learning disabilities used penguins to pick up hun- dreds of pounds for Children in Need. A scheme using cut-out car- toons of the birds to explain social distancing inspired the group from the Old Milton Road service, run by Sanctuary Supported Living, to take part in a sponsored waddle around the town. Generous donations from members of the public helped them raise over £350 for the BBC appeal, with funds still be- ing collected online. Taking to the streets with Smiley, Wavy and fellow social distancing penguins, the group was aided by the town’s Lidl branch which provided a trolley to transport the birds. Alison said afterwards: “I’m so proud of all the residents, staff and penguins who took part. They’ve done a great job waddling around town for Chil- dren in Need. “Everyone who saw us was so

supportive and joined in with the smiling and waving – we even got some people doing their own penguin impressions – and I’m really pleased that we were able to bring a smile to so many people’s faces.” As reported in the A&T, one resident’s love of penguins and the film Madagascar inspired the creation of cardboard mod- els of the birds, christened Smi- ley and Wavy. This encouraged residents to follow the catchphrase used by the 2005 animated film’s penguin characters and just “smile and wave” when greet- ing people instead of going too close. Local service manager Alison Notman was shortlisted in the south-west for the care home manager category of the 2020/21 Great British Care Awards for dreaming up the idea. Videos of Smiley and Wavy’s antics can be seen on YouTube at bit.ly/38XbFeh and dona- tions for the waddle can be made through its JustGiving page at bit.ly/3pCntbD

A sight which could be seen across the New Forest under district council plans

with pushchairs and wheelchair users. Cllr Herra said the council had been told that 90% of local authorities use wheelie bins. Of the remaining 10%, he asked: “What are their recycling

figures like compared to those other 90%? And what other fac- tors were taken into account in not adopting the wheelie bins?” The council also warned that bins may be used to “spy” on residents, claiming examples of councils including Bristol mi- crochipping containers in order to monitor how much rubbish was being thrown away. Cllr Herra concluded: “With there being so many unan- swered questions and mislead- ing information regarding the costings, the report has come up short in a number of areas and more work and further clar- ification is required.” Members agreed to send a list of 10 questions, including asking if residents can “opt out” of the system. NFDC says wheelie bins would apply to about 90% of homes in the New Forest and help drive down waste genera- tion and increase recycling, as well as prevent the mess often caused by split sacks which are attacked by birds and animals. The four-week public consul- tation period by NFDC, which started on 12th November, will end on 10th December.

NFDC’s communication around recycling had been “in- effective”. Footpaths in the village were very narrow, the council said, and bins lined up along them could pose a danger to parents

Town’s garden waste service open RESIDENTS in Christchurch can sign up now to BCP Council’s garden waste col- lection service for 2021. which can then be used in ag- riculture.”

Earlier this year, the service was temporarily suspended for a month during the lock- down for the council to rede- ploy staff and prioritise essen- tial waste collections. To make up for these two missed collections, the council will be providing ex- tra pick-ups between 18th January and 12th February next year. Residents who subscribed to the 2020 ser- vice will be able to present their bins with their 2020 payment sticker visible and receive two fortnightly collec- tions. For more information, go to www.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/ gardenwaste

Under the scheme, grass clippings, plants and weeds are collected fortnightly be- tween 15th February and 17th December at a cost of £49 per bin. Residents can register for collections until 18th Decem- ber. Around 51,000 households registered for this year’s ser- vice, and more than 10,300 tonnes of garden waste were collected in 2019/20. A spokesperson for BCP Council said: “This helps pro- mote our sustainable envi- ronment objective, with the waste that’s collected turned into a high-quality compost

Trial set for driver over fatal crash in town centre

A NEW Milton man will stand trial over a town centre collision which claimed the life of an el- derly pedestrian. Gary Horbury (57), of Fern- dale Road, pleaded not guilty to causing the death of Marga- ret Fraser by driving without due care and attention, when he appeared before Southampton Crown Court last Friday. He was at the wheel of an HGV

at the time of the incident in Sta- tion Road on 20th January, the court heard. Horbury was granted uncon- ditional bail to reappear for a five-day trial, which was listed to start on 2nd August 2021. Mrs Fraser, who was 89, was described as “inspirational” in a tribute after the incident. A post-mortem examination found she died of multiple injuries.

I wash my hands to protect my family .